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+// SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0
+= Decision spec — `0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml` → deed era (family 7)
+Campaign: standards#837 · Frame: link:README.adoc[mappings/README] ·
+Status: **DECISION REQUIRED (owner)** — raised by the first live
+conformance finding of the wave (marid, verified 2026-09-19): a
+*renamed-not-translated* `0-AI-MANIFEST.deed` carrying INI content already
+exists in the wild. Renames are not translations; this spec exists so the
+wave converts ~900 generated files instead of ~900 ad-hoc moves.
+
+== 0. Naming collision (wave rule #1: do not conflate)
+
+**`0.2-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml` (cartridge directory-manifests) is a DIFFERENT
+family.** Found during recon: `1-formats/sub-specs/cartridges/`
+and `docs/wikis/0.2-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml` carry YAML-ish `key: value`
+directory-manifest content (boJ cartridge system, governed by
+`cartridge-v1.json` schema) — unrelated to the per-repo agent-allocation
+file. The wave must match on the agent-allocation *content shape*, never
+on the filename alone. Sub-family separation recorded here; cartridge
+manifests get their own spec when their registry moment comes (linked to
+the #732 rename batch, not this campaign).
+
+== 1. Source surface (family 7 proper)
+
+`<repo>/0-AI-MANIFEST.a2ml` at repo root — generated, ~900 estate copies
+per the #646 audit note. Instance norm (marid, 2026-09-18 vintage):
+
+[cols="1,3"]
+|===
+| Section | Content
+
+| `[metadata]` | `version`, `last-updated` (strings)
+| `[project]` | `name`, `purpose` (strings)
+| `[ai-allocation]` | `agents` = array of `{ name, role }` (the estate's agent-identity table: CLAUDE / CHATGPT / GEMINI / VIBE …)
+| `[policy]` | `rules` = array of prose-rule strings
+| `[work-allocation]` | `items` = array of `{ agent, task }`
+|===
+
+== 2. The options on the table
+
+**A. `(manifest …)` clauses on the repo deed (RECOMMENDED).** AI-MANIFEST
+content is *repo state*: who is allocated here, under what policy. The
+one-deed-per-repo doctrine already lands AGENTIC/PLAYBOOK here; the
+allocation manifest is the same epistemic kind. Fields map cleanly with
+zero invented grammar.
+
+**B. `*_praxis.deed`.** Rules-shaped? The policy rules are *prose*, not
+machine rules — no `:when`/`:then`, no precedent for `:priority`
+proration; forcing them into praxis invents exactly the field shapes the
+grammar's provisional-note forbids. Recorded and rejected; not asked for.
+
+== 3. Field table (option A; translator refuses anything else — P-2a)
+
+[cols="2,3,4"]
+|===
+| a2ml surface | deed path | transform / type
+
+| `[metadata] version` / `last-updated` | `(manifest :version "…" :last-updated "…")` | verbatim STRINGs
+| `[project] name` | `(manifest :project "Marid")` | verbatim STRING — cross-checked against deed `:canonical-name` (P-6 analogue; mismatch fails closed: catches a manifest read into the wrong repo)
+| `[project] purpose` | `(manifest :purpose "…")` | verbatim STRING
+| `[ai-allocation] agents[]` | one clause per entry: `(agent :name CLAUDE :role "…")` | `name` → SYMBOL (agent identities ARE identifiers — estate greps depend on the literal symbol; closed seen-set extended by ruling, never silently), `role` → STRING verbatim
+| `[policy] rules[]` | `(policy (rules ("rule text" "rule text")))` | list of STRINGs — order is semantic here, and *list order is preserved by the grammar* (a list is a value, unlike clause order); no invented rule-ids
+| `[work-allocation]` items[] | `(work :agent GEMINI :task "…")` per entry | agent → SYMBOL (same identity table as `:name`s above; agent in items[] but not in agents[] fails closed — allocation without a declared identity), task → STRING
+|===
+
+== 4. Must-preserve + wave rules (the hazard table)
+
+1. **No renames. Only translations.** A `.deed` file contains a deed. The
+   marid `0-AI-MANIFEST.deed` class (INI content, `.deed` name, root
+   location, no dispatch pattern) fails on three independent counts —
+   the whole-tree deed-lint CI gate (already in standards'
+   `deed-conformance.yml;` wave repos inherit it) is what kills this class
+   on contact, not review-eyeballs.
+2. **Agent-identity table verbatim.** `:name CLAUDE` etc. are estate-wide
+   greppable constants; any fourth-name propagation anomaly is flagged
+   (P-9 analogue).
+3. **The no-duplicate-tasks invariant** rides as a policy rule text
+   verbatim; translators dedupe nothing, interpreters dedupe nothing —
+   the text itself is the contract.
+4. **Generator-first for the wave.** ~900 files are *generated*: convert
+   the generator's emit surface BEFORE the files (the #645 lesson: fix at
+   source, then re-propagate). The 6a2/A2ML generator home is an
+   owner-information dependency (same hunt as #646's, now with a deed-era
+   destination).
+
+== 5. Acceptance (once ruled)
+
+* Zero `0-AI-MANIFEST.deed` files containing `=` as a field separator
+  exist estate-wide (the in-the-wild rename class: zero).
+* Every converted repo's deed carries `(manifest …)` with agent symbol
+  counts matching its old a2ml arrays one-for-one.
+* `grep -rn ":name CLAUDE\b" --include='*_chora.deed'` reproduces the
+  pre-wave allocation table byte-for-meaning.
+
+== 6. Ruling asks
+
+. Option A confirm (or an alternative home — with reasons, so the next
+  family spec inherits the principle).
+. Whether the agent *seen-set* is closed-and-ruled (CLAUDE/CHATGPT/
+GEMINI/VIBE) or open-with-review — translator default without an answer:
+  open + flag-any-unknown (fails captured, not blocked).
+. Generator location/home for the wave's source-fix step (owner-info).